Northumberland days 1 - 3

For the second year in a row, I travelled to Berwick-upon-Tweed with my dad and stayed with family. The house overlooks the sea, so at times, it is possible to watch Goosanders from the house!

After the five hour-journey, I unpacked my luggage at the house and walked up the pier, which is near the house. The tide was out, so most of the birds were waders, but I still saw a good number of species including Redshanks, Curlews and Oystercatchers. 

On the other side of the pier was a sandy beach, where there was a bigger variety of waders including Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey and Ringed Plovers, Sanderlings and Dunlins. On the sea there was a close in Red-throated Diver, which are always good to see when they are not white dots through a telescope. There were also Eiders and a lot of Shags.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Getting back to the house, I unpacked my luggage and made plans for the next day. Just before dark, hundreds of Gulls gathered on the mud outside the house, and in the huge flock, there were Lesser Black-backed, Common, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls, among the Herrings. 

The next day, I went to Prestwick Carr, near Newcastle. My main reason for planning a visit here was because I knew the site had Willow Tits, a species I'd never seen, but while researching it I realised there was also a Great Grey Shrike in the area, so that became another target.

Thanks to some helpful directions (thanks Samuel Fisher!), I managed to get to the right area. Almost immediately, I heard the strange, harsh call of a Willow Tit, and it didn't take long to find it flying around in a small tree. I tried to teach myself the difference from Marsh Tit, and managed to see the thicker neck and a whiter cheeks. 

Moving on, I walked up the lane looking on all the distant trees for the Shrike, and stopped at all the gaps in the hedge. However, because I was sure it would be distant, I didn't expect the white shape sitting in the hedge ahead of me to be the bird I was looking for! 

 

Great Grey Shrike - Taken Through the Scope

It didn't stay there for long though, and it flew to the top of the nearest tree then in to the field to the left of the path. After a few minutes, I managed to relocate it hunting from a post. I got very good views for a long time through the scope, and enjoyed watching it drop down in to the grass, return to the post, then move to the next post along.

A heavy sleet storm started, so I sheltered in the pub, and had fish and chips for lunch. I ended up missing the bus by a few seconds, despite running for it, but this didn't turn out to be too bad as another came quite soon.

In the evening, I walked along the pier again and saw a very good variety of waders on the beach including Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Curlew, Ringed and Grey Plovers, Sanderlings, Dunlins and Bar-tailed Godwits.

The Waders on the Beach

On the third day, I went to Stag Rocks, near Bamburgh, hoping for Divers and Grebes. However, the weather made watching the sea almost impossible, and I had to do it with the shelter of a building. This was a disadvantage because there was a lot of swell on the sea, and the building I was next to wasn't high up on a cliff - it was almost at sea level. 

On the sea, there were a few Kittiwakes, a Gannet, a flock of more than 100 Common Scoters with a Red-breasted Merganser in it and a VERY brief view of a flock of Grebes that were probably Slavonian, but I couldn't relocate them because of the swell and the fact they were so small and distant. I had to give up though because of the heavy winds. 

I walked in the direction of Budle Bay, but turned back soon as the weather turned even worse as it started to rain heavily. It was so windy that Rock Pipits and Stonechats were sheltering on people's lawns. 

A Sheltering Stonechat

I didn't do much else during the rest of evening, except plan what I was going to do in the following days.

Oriole Birding Day Trip

I had a very successful trip with Oriole Birding to the Norfolk broads, with Jason Moss as our guide, and it actually turned out to be one of my most successful days of birding.

We began at Haddiscoe, where we heard Jays and saw many Goldcrests in the pines. We went to high ground to get a view over the marshes and the tour leader eventually found the Rough-legged Buzzard on a post - my first lifer of the day! It wasn't clear it was this species until it flew and showed the clean white band in the tail, which was very different from the pale Common Buzzard that was near it. There was also a smart male Merlin sitting on a post, and many Kestrels in the fields. Bearded Tits called from the Reeds and Reed Buntings gave distant views as they flew over. A Marsh Harrier also flew through.

We then stopped to look at Breydon Water where the waders were exciting to watch when they got scared by something. The wader species included Lapwing, Curlew, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Knot, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit and Avocet, and there were also large number of Wigeon and Teal, with some Pintails mixed in. A Sparrowhawk and Marsh Harrier flew by past the water too. 

The next stop was Great Yarmouth where we had good views of Mediterranean Gulls. It was good to compare them with Black-headed Gulls as they flew around showing the completely white wings, thicker beaks and the dark mask behind the eye instead of a spot. 

Next we went for a Glossy Ibis that had been seen recently, and immediately as we got out of the van, Jason spotted it by some bushes, and it was my second lifer of the day. It was showing quite well at first, but I did not expect it to fly from the bush line and land just a few metres away! Amazing!

Glossy Ibis - Showing Well!

We then went to some wet fields around the Broads, where we almost immediately found a flock of nine Bewick's Swans. I had only seen these before at Slimbridge, where they are fed, but I realised that I prefer seeing them much more in natural habitats such as the fields. I enjoyed watching them and also realised how different from Whooper swans they looked.

Bewick's Swan

Along the road there was a close flock of Fieldfares, more Kestrels and another Sparrowhawk. Both Little and Great-crested Grebes were on the water, and a Cetti's warbler called and sang from the reeds, but didn't want to show itself.

Next we got a different angle on the fields, and this time saw a flock of Whooper swans, which showed differences in size and bill pattern from the Bewick's earlier. A Barn Owl also hunted over the field and sat on a fence post, giving good views, and a Female Sparrowhawk also sat on a post.

Jason soon spotted a distant flock of Cranes flying over, but then soon noticed two in the field close to us! Everyone got excellent views through a gap in the reeds as they fed. 

Cranes - Photo Was Taken by Jason, the Tour Guide

It was getting late now, so we drove a short distance up the road and located the huge flock of Brambling that had been around...and I didn't realise there was going to be so many! Over 100 showing well in the trees and flying around, showing the distinctive colours. Definitely a highlight!

Brambling - The Light Was Fading

The last stop of the day was Hickling raptor roost at Stubb Mill. Dozens of Marsh Harriers flying around in the air at the same time was exciting to watch, and huge flocks of Fieldfares flew over. Two Cranes showed quite well from the fields, and more called distantly - great sounding birds. 

In the last few minutes of daylight, someone noticed a female Hen Harirer flying through distantly, and I only got very brief views of this, but just a couple of minutes later someone called out saying there was a male Hen Harrier flying through! I didn't manage to get onto it until it flew past a lot of Marsh Harriers, and it turned in the air showing its pale grey upperside and black wing tips clearly...a really great bird to end the roost with!

The last bird of the day was a Tawny owl that called as we walked back to the van.

An extremely good day, where the guide, Jason, found all the targets, and a huge variety of species was seen. I definitely want to go on more trips like this in the future!